iPhone 2014: It's time.

[Eug]

 

[TreVader]

The smart ones will arrive later and eat the weaker members of the herd.

 

[Childs]

The smart ones will arrive later and eat the weaker members of the herd.

What I don't get is what they are waiting for. Do they expect the phone to be available for purchase at the store on 9/9?

 

[Ichinisan]

What I don't get is what they are waiting for. Do they expect the phone to be available for purchase at the store on 9/9?

Surely they're waiting for 9/19 (rumored release date).

I've never had a problem reserving one and getting it on launch day. Never needed to get in line or wait for future shipments.

 

[Childs]

Surely they're waiting for 9/19 (rumored release date).

I've never had a problem reserving one and getting it on launch day. Never needed to get in line or wait for future shipments.

Maybe I missed something, but was the phone announced yet? Its usually announcement, then during the announcement there is a launch date. And I don't recall an announcement for iPhones which was also the launch day. Even if the rumored 9/19 date is accurate, who the hell can wait in line for a phone for 16 days, and actually has a job that would allow them to buy a phone?

 

[Eug]

Most of those really early guys are paid to be free advertising. So they actually make money to sit there and talk to people, including reporters who of course have cameras which will show their T-shirts.

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah they aren't normal consumers sitting there camping out, they're paid for advertisements.

 

[CZroe]

While that has definitely happened at launch events for other products, Apple's never been caught doing that. People do it for the attention. You are guaranteed to be on the news if you are first at their flagship store.

 

[Red Storm]

While that has definitely happened at launch events for other products, Apple's never been caught doing that. People do it for the attention. You are guaranteed to be on the news if you are first at their flagship store.

No, they aren't paid to be there by Apple, they are being paid by other companies who want the extra publicity.

Are you crazy enough to brave the elements waiting in line at an Apple Store for more than two weeks waiting for an iPhone 6? It's not as crazy as it sounds to 25-year old Mississippi actress and model Moon Ray, or two cousins, 20-year old Brian Ceballo and 21-year old Joseph Cruz. The trio sits at the head of the line at Apple's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York, but it's not necessarily for love of Apple's highly anticipated new handset.

They are each being compensated to attract attention and pitch a product, a telemedicine app called VideoMedicine in Moon Ray's case, and BuyBackWorld.com, a phone buy-back service in the case of Ceballo and Cruz.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...ine-for-iphone6-newyork-apple-story/15024255/

Point is they aren't regular consumers, they're shills for various products/services. Normal people know how to reserve a phone and go pick it up on their lunch break.

 

[Eug]

Woz lines up too for days. But then again he also is very far, far away from a normal person too. Despite being worth $100 million plus and a co-founder of Apple, he just likes hanging out on the street for days talking to everyone just for the hell of it even though he could theoretically just call up Tim Cook and ask for a unit to be chauffeured to him on launch day.

 

[mmntech]

I think Woz just likes hanging out with his fellow nerds outside a business environment. He seems like a genuinely cool guy.

Still, I've never really understood why people line up to be the first to own something. Especially an iPhone. It's not like they release these things every five years like you get with game consoles.

 

[Eug]

If I had to, I'd rather line up for a phone than a game console. I haven't bought a game console since the Xbox 360.

I did line up for an iPad 2, but waited less than an hour.

 

[mmntech]

If I had to, I'd rather line up for a phone than a game console. I haven't bought a game console since the Xbox 360.

I did line up for an iPad 2, but waited less than an hour.

Meh, screw that. Just preorder online and it gets shipped to your door. Got my PS4 day one by doing that. Doesn't matter if I'm not first.

 

[vi edit]

Meh, screw that. Just preorder online and it gets shipped to your door. Got my PS4 day one by doing that. Doesn't matter if I'm not first.

Heh. I'd love to see the delivery trend for Fed Ex over the course of each fall. It's probably relatively flat with the exception of this enormouse spike each year on "iPhone Delivery Day".

 

[Eug]

I wonder how much this new temporary building at the Flint Center cost to build. It's frickin' huge!

This is going to one big event, so maybe the iPad Air 2 will make an appearance afterall.

Heh. I'd love to see the delivery trend for Fed Ex over the course of each fall. It's probably relatively flat with the exception of this enormouse spike each year on "iPhone Delivery Day".

FedEx on iPhone 5s Delivery Day:

 

[mmntech]

Heh. I'd love to see the delivery trend for Fed Ex over the course of each fall. It's probably relatively flat with the exception of this enormouse spike each year on "iPhone Delivery Day".

FedEx execs on iPhone Delivery Day.

 

[CZroe]

I wonder how much this new temporary building at the Flint Center cost to build. It's frickin' huge!

This is going to one big event, so maybe the iPad Air 2 will make an appearance afterall.


FedEx on iPhone 5s Delivery Day:

The building is to demonstrate HomeKit integration withApple products and may not mean anything beyond that.

 

[Eug]

You don't need a giant 2-story building to demonstrate HomeKit.

 

[CZroe]

You don't need a giant 2-story building to demonstrate HomeKit.

Except you do. Pretty easy to imagine the kinds of things it can do, a lot of which specifically involves rooms on different floors. Having to create an environment that they can usher that many people through for demo requires a pretty big building. I imagine it's got one setup on one side and a mirror image setup on the other for two lines. Just wait.

 

[Childs]

If I had to, I'd rather line up for a phone than a game console. I haven't bought a game console since the Xbox 360.

I did line up for an iPad 2, but waited less than an hour.

hmm...I did go to a midnight release of GTA4. I got there 30 min early, but that was about it. Line moved pretty fast. Saw a guy from work so that was funny, but in general lines suck bad. I stopped going to Comic-con 8 years ago because of long ass lines, and I used to love going to that.

 

[Eug]

Wall Street Journal says the iWatch will debut next week (but won't ship until 2015), and will include a curved OLED screen and NFC. And it will contain a bunch of health sensors.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/04/iwatch-oled-nfc/

Meanwhile Jon Ives says Switzerland should be worried.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/f...ate-on-mica-a-stylish-tech-bracelet.html?_r=2

 

[Koing]

hmm...I did go to a midnight release of GTA4. I got there 30 min early, but that was about it. Line moved pretty fast. Saw a guy from work so that was funny, but in general lines suck bad. I stopped going to Comic-con 8 years ago because of long ass lines, and I used to love going to that.

I think I waited in line for the iphone4 and they ran out before it got to me but at least it was close to work. There was about 3 of us from work.

Koing

 

[TreVader]

Please let the iwatch not be real. Please don't actually follow samsung ever.

 

[Aikouka]

In my experience, waiting at the Apple Store usually guarantees more variety than a smaller cellular store, but the lines are also super slow. It has never taken me long to get in and get out once I get in the store. So, I've always attributed the long wait to Apple's willingness to show users how to use the phone, and people taking them up on said offer.

I pre-ordered the iPhone 5, but it was kind of a pain since it requires a signature and I had to rush home to get it. It was also annoying as that's when I switched to Verizon from AT&T, and Verizon left off my apartment number (top tip: just use line #1 for everything). Fortunately, none of that is really a problem anymore, because I can just tell FedEx or UPS to deliver it to a local store, and it's usually there before they even deliver to my home. Although, FedEx is usually a bit odd as sometimes they deliver around 8 AM, and other times, they've delivered around 5 PM.

In regard to the iPhone event, I've also seen some rumors about U2 being there and how the iPhone 6 will come preloaded with their latest album.

 

[Eug]

Please let the iwatch not be real. Please don't actually follow samsung ever.

Well, they'll probably be following Samsung's example of gigantic phones on Sept. 9.

However, Apple hasn't been about necessarily being the first. They're about being the best. I have no doubt Apple's offering (if it happens) will be light years better than Samsung's.

That said, I still don't see myself buying one.